The Great Florem Cake Escapade
by sanctum-c
Summary: There is a bakery in Florem that makes ten special cakes each day; the limited edition Deluxe Strawberry Supreme. Three times Edea has been to Florem too late to obtain one of the cakes. Not this time.


**A/N:** Written as part of the Bravely Secret Santa on tumblr for thegingeryone for the prompt:

 _would really love some art of edea and agnes being friends! maybe sharing sweets or shopping together?_

* * *

Agnès stirred in her sleep as something rustled nearby. She rolled over, faintly annoyed and hoped the noise would stop. Another, louder rustling noise made her tense, and now the floorboards creaked loudly. Too noisy. She blinked her eyes open. A shadowy figure was moving across the room with exaggerated stealth, just about visible in the light spilling under the door. "Edea?" she asked. "Where are you going?"

Edea jumped and looked around in a panic. She shuffled closer to her bed. "Sorry Agnès!" Edea shot a nervous glance towards the dresser. Agnès followed her gaze; Airy was still asleep on the top, just about visible in the gloom. "I, er... I thought I'd get an early start and..." She stopped and scratched her cheek.

Agnès sat up. "An early start?" She glanced at the window. Not even the first hints of dawn were visible through the drawn curtains. "Isn't it a bit too..." Early. Florem. Edea. "Oh," she said as everything seeming to fall into place. "Your early start wouldn't happen to involve stopping by a bakery would it?"

"Why, Agnès," her friend replied with a nervous laugh. "Whatever would make you say that? Listen, there's no need for you to wake up now too, you can get a bit more sleep if you like-"

"I only ask," Agnès interrupted as she rubbed a nuisance particle of sleep from her eye and stifled a yawn. "Because the last three times we came to Florem, you complained we let you sleep in too late. And in doing so you missed out on the chance to get some kind of cake or something-"

"Some kind of cake?" Edea hissed. "I'll have you know that cake is a work of art! They only make ten of them per day. Just ten Agnès! For the whole of Florem! And they use only the freshest fruit hand delivered to them each morning! They'll be whipping the cream as we speak and the jam filling is made especially for these cakes! Oh... by now they'll have finished the cake mixture and..."

"And you're not worried about being tired later after getting up this early purely for a dessert?" Agnès asked with a frown.

Edea shrugged and waved the question away. "I'll be fine.I'll just drink extra coffee later. You should get some sleep while you can though. Sorry I woke you."

Agnès considered the situation for a moment. "No."

"Agnès..."

"I'm coming too," Agnès said as she threw back the bedclothes and lit the lamp. Edea squinted in the sudden dull yellow light. Agnès checked on the room's third occupant; neither the hissed conversation nor the light seemed to have disturbed Airy.

"You really don't have to," Edea tried as Agnès folded her nightwear neatly into her bag and fished out her clothes. "I'll be fine on my own - you know I can handle myself. Plus that bakery's all the way across town, and there's no sense in us both getting tired. I mean, this is just for my benefit and if I hadn't woken you..." Edea looked at her hopefully.

"I can have extra coffee too," Agnès replied, slipping her dress over her head.

Edea fidgeted. "Well, I didn't like to mention it, but... It's still about three hours before the bakery even opens..." she said.

"Three hours?" Agnès exclaimed. She stopped pulling on her woolen tights and stared at her friend.

"Yeah, well..." Edea trailed off after an uneasy glance towards Airy. She dithered, shrugged, and then wandered towards the window. "Other people get up early too - or at least I think they would for this cake. Well, they must do, otherwise I would have been able to buy the cake when I tried the last few times. I just figured if I was up this early I could beat them all... I... I just want to make sure I can get one this time... That's why you shouldn't feel like you need to come too. It'll be pretty boring hanging around for so long with basically nothing to do."

"We can talk, can't we? Even then... Tell me," Agnès said as she pulled her boots on. "Was there any intention of sharing the cake with anyone when you got it, or did you hope you could eat it all before any of us woke up?" Agnès arched an eyebrow at her.

"I... Well, if you..." She glanced back over her shoulder, her face falling as she looked at Agnès. Edea sighed. "No, I was just going to eat it all on my own! You got me!" She sounded defeated. "I suppose if you're coming along you'd like a slice?"

"I will admit the limited nature of the cake has intrigued me and I would like to try some now you have told me the particulars," Agnès admitted. "And not to worry, I will pay my fair share. Well. Assuming the cake is not that costly." Edea nodded vaguely as she tweaked the curtains aside. And froze. She swore under her breath. "Edea?" Agnès asked.

"It's DeRosa!" Edea hissed.

"Fiore?" Agnès queried as she hurried over to the window.

Edea nodded. "Out there," she added, jabbing her finger towards the window.

"What is he doing?" Agnès asked as she tweaked the curtain open further and peered down into the gloomy plaza. A figure leant against the central garden, illuminated even this early in the morning.

"He's just... standing there," Edea said. "I hope he's not selecting his latest prey. Agnès... what if he knows we're here?" She scowled. "I knew we should have taken him out yesterday..."

"Edea, we got here very late and we were in no shape to tangle with him again - or going to look for him if he wasn't in his dungeon last night," Agnès replied pointedly. "We were - if you remember - going to deal with him today."

"Yeah, but..." Edea gestured at the man. "Now he's down there, and if we go past him, I'm going to need to hit him rather hard, and if I do that, then we'll end up fighting, and we'll need to take care of him, and that's probably going to make me too late for my cake and..."

Agnès looked at her in astonishment. "Are you really more upset with your cake than taking care of that vile man?"

"Of course not." She sighed. "But if I could have the cake first, I'd rather have the cake first and..." She grimaced. "I don't really want anything to do with him... again," she added.

"In any case, unless he goes away very shortly, we will have little choice but to walk past him. Whether he knows we're here or not, he is between us and the rest of Florem. It's not as if we can just fly over his head..." Agnès dropped the curtain and hurried to the bag containing their asterisks..

"Yeah, I know," Edea said, still staring out the window. "I suppose if we can get the drop on him, maybe we can take him out quick enough," Edea mused.

"Or we can fly," Agnès said with a grin. Edea turned around and looked at her curiously. Agnès held up the Valkyrie asterisk. "Einheria's asterisk; if we stick to the rooftops we can get right past him without him ever seeing us."

"Agnès, that's brilliant!" Edea exclaimed a little too loudly. Agnès shushed her urgently as she glanced towards Airy. The cryst fairy murmured something, stirred for a moment and rolled over in her make-shift bed of thick socks. After a few seconds she began to snore.

"I get half the cake though," Agnès said just above a whisper, folding her arms.

"Half? You'll never eat that much!" Edea protested. "It's a complete waste of something that special!"

"Yes. But I thought Tiz might like to try some. Oh, and Ringabel of course. If the cake is as good as you say, I feel they should try it too," Agnès replied.

"Agnès..." Edea moaned. Agnès kept her arms folded, her gaze fixed on Edea's. She sighed a few seconds later. "Fine! But they better both appreciate what we're doing and what I'm giving up!" She clenched her teeth. "We'll split the cake fifty-fifty."

"Deal." Agnès smiled and handed her companion one of the asterisks. She triggered hers a second later, the wash of light reflecting off the walls. Agnès held her breath as the always odd feeling of her clothes moving and changing enveloped her. The glow faded and she relaxed; Airy had not woken up.

"Okay, enough dawdling, let's go!" Edea said and started towards the window. One of Agnès's spear tips caught on the chair near her bed. She unhooked herself just in time to see one of Edea's spears catch the blankets on her bed as she walked past. With a muffled thump the bedclothes slid onto the floor. Edea spun around, a spear now smacking into the metal bed frame with a loud clang. Agnès winced and glanced at Airy again as Edea muttered something under her breath and bent to grab the sheets.

Her movements caused another scraping noise that stopped her in her tracks. A ragged was scoured up the side of the dresser Airy was sleeping on courtesy of one of Edea's spears. "How does Einheria cope with this?" Edea said bitterly. "She's always so graceful in high command. I'd get just keep getting hung up on the tapestries like this..." She grabbed the blankets from the floor but as she turned to dump them unceremoniously on the bed, a spear snagged her bag and pulled it onto the floor. Edea jumped and looked around in frustration. "That's it!" she hissed as she deactivated the asterisk. "I'm not using this until we're outside."

Agnès checked the distance and number of potential obstacles between herself and the window. She nodded in agreement and copied Edea's action. "A sound plan." With a last wary glance at Airy, Agnès tip-toed across the floor. Several boards creaked slightly, but fortunately none at a startling volume. Edea pulled the stiff window open, letting a waft of cold air into the room. Mercifully the hinges did not squeak once. "We would have never got through this with the asterisk active," Agnès murmured. She followed Edea out onto the ledge outside and pulled the window closed behind her. Agnès glanced towards DeRosa and regretted it. It seemed higher up than expected on this narrow ledge. She kept her gaze fixed on the distance and let Edea stare down into the plaza. "Are we still okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Actually he might be asleep for all I can see. Okay. Let's try that again." Edea triggered her asterisk again and now wore the Valkyrie uniform once more. Agnès triggered her own transformation a moment later.

"Did he notice that?" Agnès asked. Edea shook her head. "Nope."

"Something at least. And you'd better lead on," Agnès said.

Edea grinned. "Let's get that cake!" she said. She glanced around. "Okay, maybe we should get onto the inn's roof first..." Edea sprang upwards, arcing very slightly forwards to perch on the angled roof of the inn for a moment. She pointed across the street and then leapt forwards, arcing through the air to land on a roof-top on the other side of the street. Edea froze for a moment and looked around before waving Agnès towards her.

Agnès copied her route - not quite as assured as Edea or as unconcerned for how high up they were. She landed beside her friend. "He's still not moved," Edea said. "So far, so good." She launched herself forward again and Agnès followed right behind. This was by far the strangest thing she had done while travelling with her companions - even taking into account the journeying across multiple worlds. At the same time it was fun; there was a certain clandestine thrill to leaping across the roof-tops in the early hours of the morning. That it was in aid of obtaining cake - no matter how rare - was an amusing twist to what seemed likely to prove an amusing anecdote. Agnès smiled as they fell into a steady rhythm as they leapt between the roof tops. How far away was this bakery? And was Edea really right about the necessity of getting here quite so early?

"Not far now..." Edea said as they paused a few minutes later.

"I should have known," a new voice interrupted, startling them both. Edea was ready to spring and wobbled when the voice spoke. She whirled towards the voice and Agnès grasped her spear tighter as Einheria Venus stepped out from the shadow of a chimney.

"Einheria! So nice to see you," Edea said with a forced, overly large grin as she quickly glanced down the street. "Can this, ah, wait? We're kind of doing something else at the moment and I'm not desperate to fight you. We're just heading to the bakery..."

"No. I cannot just let you go I'm afraid," Einheria said with a shake of her head. "Not now I have located both you and the vestal."

Edea scowled. "Seriously? Not just for a few hours so I can enjoy some cake? Last request of the condemned kind of thing?"

"No." Einheria looked at them both impassively. "If I were not also planning on obtaining the limited edition Deluxe Strawberry Supreme cake, I might consider looking the other way. Unfortunately, we have a common, mutually exclusive goal." Einheria stared at them levelly.

"What?" Agnès asked. "You're after this cake too?"

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that you have been stationed in Florem all this time and have never once made it here on time?" Edea asked in disbelief.

Einheria shook her head. "This has the first opportunity for me to visit the city proper since our arrival - and I am required elsewhere tomorrow. This then will likely remain my only opportunity for the forseeable future. I have refrained from coming here thanks to our..." Her eyes narrowed. "Commander," she said through clenched teeth. "But I can only hear about wondrous limited edition cakes so many times before wanting to taste one myself."

"So..." Agnès said with a frown. "Can't we just call a truce or compromise? Edea said they were ten of them?" Agnès glanced at Edea who nodded. "So there's more than one to be had. And maybe we can all get cake and worry about the fighting afterwards?"

Einheria shook her head. "I do not wish to risk not obtaining them."

"'Them?'" Edea asked, her voice rising. "'Them?'"

"Yes. One for myself, one for Artemia and one for Mephilia. And in case a distraction is in order, one for DeRosa," Einheria said, flicking her hair back.

"How can you all stand to eat so much..." Agnès murmured glancing between the quivering Edea and the overly calm Einheria.

"Four cakes! You want four cakes!?" Edea took a step forward, her face furious. "Can't you just divide one up? You know cake splits into four really easily, right?"

"And I take it you were entirely willing to split your cake between your party too?" Einheria glanced around the roof-top. "Apparently not - especially when you are lacking half the actors your little troupe is supposed to comprise of."

"Okay, Einheria; if that's how you want to play it, then we have no choice but to take four cakes too," Edea said with a grin. "One for each of our party."

"I can't eat-" Agnès began.

"You do little to dissuade my intent to fight then," Einheria interrupted. "Your intention of taking four cakes is a more than unacceptable risk. The chances of there being only two other like-minded individuals and each of those only wanting one cake each in that situation..." Einheria shook her head. "One less was bad enough; no. I will not risk it."

"Agnès?" Edea said, taking another step forward. "Can I trust you to keep going and wait for me? The bakery is right down the street on the right. I'll handle this."

"Right," Agnès said. Edea raised her spear as she assumed a combat stance and Einheria mimicked the action.

"Don't run too fast, Vestal. I shall deal with you soon enough," Einheria said with a smirk as she paid no attention to her opponent. Edea growled and darted forward, swinging her spear at Einheria's head. Her opponent leapt backwards back across the street and Edea immediately gave chase, springing high into the air after her. The pair bounced across distant roof-tops, the clash of steel echoing around the quietened city before they vanished down into the streets. Agnès shivered in the chill air; time to get moving. So, down this street and on the left? Right? Or was it the right? Agnès bounced across a few more rooftops as the sound of clashing steel echoed distantly in the still air of the early morning.

How far now? Agnès peered over the edge of her current roof and down onto the street. None of the shops she could see looked anything like a bakery. Agnès squinted. She was looking for a bakery wasn't she? If only Edea had mentioned the place's name. She assumed something like a bakery on the basis of the early hours and the presence of a freshly made cake, but... Agnès shook her head. Of course it would be a bakery - where else could someone hope to find cake? Unless Florem was more different than any of the other visits had made clear. Or was it possible that this version of the city was utterly unlike the variants they visited in prior worlds?

Agnès shook her head to dislodge the thought as she looked up and down the street again, calmly checking each shop in turn. None of them looked much like a bakery, or even any kind of place to get food at all. Surely she should be able to smell the freshly baked bread if she were nearby? She crouched lower, peering at a sign outside one shop with fogged up windows. An arrow smacked into the brickwork just above her head. It took a moment for the event to register; Agnès rolled and darted quickly to the nearest place of cover - the chimney. She kept it between her and the direction the arrow seemed to originate from. No further shots came and after a tense few moments, Agnès peered out from behind her cover. On a rooftop a little further up the street, Artemia Venus had just drawn another arrow.

"Artmeia?" Agnès asked.

"Vestal," Artemia replied with a curt nod as she moved closer, the arrow still nocked.

Agnès sighed."Is there any way we can not do this now?" Artemia shook her head. "Please?"

"No. Get cake. Share with Frostis and sisters and friends," Artemia replied, the ready arrow still pointed right at her.

"You want that cake too?" Agnès asked blinking at her. Artemia nodded solemnly. "Is it really supposed to be that good?" Another nod. "Wait, how do you know that's what I'm after?"

"Artemia hear," the girl replied pointing to the huge rabbit ears of her mask.

"...and there's no way you can just make do with the one, is there?" Agnès asked with a sinking feeling. At least Edea had only wanted one of the cakes. Or at least that was what she had said.

Artemia shook her head again. "Many Frostis, many friends."

"And the chances of the cake still being edible when you get it to them?" She stopped talking as Artemia growled in response. "Never mind. You know, I'm not sure if Frostis or your critter friends should eat cake - I don't think it's something they eat naturally..." That earned her another growl. She was still at a disadvantage, and Artemia was still aiming an arrow right at her. Time was zipping past; she had to get moving. How long until the cake was on sale? She had to go. Not that she was totally sure where she was heading. And fighting Artemia now, alone, seemed a less than good idea. If only there was some way to just incapacitate her. Ah. Agnès fumbled with her asterisk and with a flicker her outfit changed again.

Agnès never liked using the Vampire asterisk; it was one of the more revealing of the Sage's designs and like the Spell Fencer left her feeling far too exposed. Once more she envied Tiz and Ringabel the elegant suits similar to DeRosso's own rather than this odd selection of belts along the length of her body and the strange pointed ears perched on her head. Artemia tilted her head at her as she changed. Presumably not an asterisk she had seen or expected to see; or maybe the ears of the costume interested her? No matter. With a flick of her hand Agnès shot Blaster at the ranger, pleased to see the spell strike and take immediate effect.

Artemia immediately keeled over onto the tiled roof, sliding slightly with the gradient. Agnès darted forward for a second, terrified the Ranger might slide right off and fall to the street, but Artemia came to rest well before the guttering. All her limbs were now enveloped in crackling energy. "Sorry," Agnès called her heart hammering in her chest. "But Edea really wants a cake too. I'll... I'll get one for you at least," she said. "Might not be enough for all your friends, but..." Agnès shrugged helplessly. "Better than nothing."

Artemia just stared at her until Agnès turned away and switched back to Valkyrie again. She was certain the bakery was not here. No choice but to keep moving and keep looking. This way; it had to be this way. A flicker of white ahead of her; something moving fast, an impression of sharpened spears. Einheria? Then where was Edea? Agnès tensed. Hopefully Edea would not be far behind her opponent. Unless Einheria had somehow gotten the best of her... Agnès tightened her grip on her spear as she landed, the other Valkyrie aimed at the same roof-top - one who swiftly and thankfully became obvious was her friend. "Edea! how did you get past me?" Agnès asked as her companion landed.

"Get past you?!" Edea exclaimed. "Agnès you're going the wrong way!" Edea shook her head. "Never mind. I've held up Einheria as much as I could. Now let's get that cake before she gets free or Mephilia or Artemia turns up or something."

"Artemia already turned up; I paralyzed her for now. She... she also wanted cake," Agnès said gesturing behind her towards the Ranger. It was a little hard to believe she had just said that.

"I knew it was good, but both of them?" Edea sighed. "We're nearly there anyway." She darted off, Agnès close behind her. She winced as they jumped past the still incapacitated Artemia, but there was little she could do for now. Right along the street and down onto one of the narrower side streets. Agnès and Edea landed right outside what was unambiguously a bakery, the air filled with the delicious scent of baking bread. A few of the bakers shot curious looks at the two women dressed as Valkyries now waiting outside their shop. "We made it!" Edea said cheering.

"Edea..." Agnès asked. "There seems to be less than the massed hoard I was expecting here."

Edea laughed nervously. "Yeah, it does seem we managed all this a too little easily doesn't it?"

"How much longer do we have to wait?"

"Only two more hours," Edea replied.

"'Only'?" Agnès grimaced. The trip here, the fight with Artemia; had it not eaten away more time than that? With a sigh she deactivated the Valkyrie asterisk and sat heavily on the nearby bench.

"Not to worry, it'll pass in no time," Edea said happily as she perched beside her friend and intently watched the bakery door. Agnès shivered and wrapped her arms around her. The cake had better be worth it.

* * *

"Cake!" Edea said happily as they strolled down the street both holding a white cardboard box. Agnès glanced up towards the rooftops, trying to gauge where they were. Edea had not stopped smiling since she handed over her PG and picked up the cake box.

"Happy now?" Agnès asked.

Edea nodded vigorously. "Very. Now let's deliver the spare and get to eating." She glanced up. "Okay, I think Artemia was somewhere around here..."

"That one maybe?" Agnès pointed to a building a short distance further down the street.

"Could well be. Difficult to tell from here. Hey, if she's... not there... Can we keep the cake?" Agnès looked at her pointedly. Edea sighed. "Okay, okay. We'll make sure Artemia gets her cake. To feed to Frostis and critters or whatever."

"No need to be like that. She wanted cake just as much as you did. If she wants to... Never mind. I'll just let her have this one," Agnès said triggering the Valkyrie asterisk again.

"Hold up, I'll come too," Edea said. "We don't know if DeRosa is still hanging around outside the hotel after all. Or he might have started prowling the rooftops."

Quite why DeRosa would be skulking around up here was decidedly unclear. Still, Edea's company would be welcome. The roof top was deserted when they landed side-by-side on the sloping tiles. No sign of the Ranger anywhere. "Artemia?" Agnès called. There was no response. "Artemia?" she tried again. "Any idea where she might have gone?" she asked turning in a slow circle, looking for any trace of her.

Edea shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe she went back out to the woods? We should be thankful she hasn't shot at you again, I suppose." The thought seemed to remind her of something and she whirled around as if checking for the Ranger preparing to ambush them. Agnès made a non-committal noise and called out to Artemia again, brushing her hair back from a sudden wind. "How long do you want to keep looking?" Edea asked. "And do we really have to hike out to the woods right away?"

"I'm not sure," Agnès said, raising her voice above the increasingly fast chill breeze. "I did promise her a cake..."

"Well, I hope we find her or give up soon, this wind-" Edea broke off and stared at something behind Agnès. "That's not good..." she murmured. Agnès turned to follow her gaze.

"Is that... Hresvelgr?" Agnès asked her eyes widening, as she stared at the black shape swooping out of the sky, black feathers scattered in its wake.

"Looks like it," Edea gulped. "...Is that Mephilia on it's back? Oh. I found Artemia for you." She pointed at the approaching summon spell.

Agnès squinted. Sure enough both the Summoner and the Ranger were both crouched on the back of the curious creature seemingly neither wholely bird nor machine. Artemia looked like she was jabbing her spear at Agnès. "Plans?" she asked.

"Run mostly," Edea said and sprang from the roof to a perch on the other side of the street. Agnès followed a moment later. She glanced up as she landed; Hresvelgr had shifted very slightly to compensate and was still aimed right at them.

"We could try giving them the cake?" Agnès suggested.

Edea opened and closed her mouth a few times. "It might work," she conceded. "As good as any other suggestion right this second," she said. "Hey Artemia! We got you a cake!"

Agnès stared towards the approaching summon. "That... doesn't appear to have made her very happy," Agnès observed. "Do you know if Mephilia likes cake especially?"

"We need to move first." Edea gestured ahead and leapt as she answered, Agnès moving with her. "I've never known her to have a sweet tooth," she replied.

Agnès hummed. "Then maybe the solution is to fight fire with fire..." She pulled the Summoner asterisk from her pouch. "Summon versus summon..."

Edea grinned. "I like it."

Hresvelgr drew ever closer; it was moving very slightly faster than they were. Agnès hoped the impacts on these people's roofs were not waking the inhabitants. Wait. People. "Edea! We have to get them out of the city!" Ede looked at her blankly. "Away from the people!" A whole city slumbered beneath their feet. She could not in good grace call up an otherworldly creature to fight for her and risk the lives of so many peacefully slumbering citizens. Especially when the fight was - in the end - over Edea's cake. Understanding dawned on Edea's face as Agnès changed direction, leaping from roof to roof heading for the edge of Florem.

"Faster!" Edea called. "Mephilia's getting closer!"

Agnès gritted her teeth and pushed with all her might as she slammed into the next roof and pushed off. "Nearly there," she called.

"This is too much. Even for this cake," Edea was muttering behind her. "At least we can ambush them outside the city."

"An ambush?" A voice called. "I would not have thought you the type, Edea." Einheria seemed to appear out of nowhere. She was beside Agnès in a moment. "I'll take that," she said, snatching the cardboard box from Agnès's hands and in the next moment she was arcing away to land on another roof.

"Hey!" Agnès said, stumbling awkwardly on the next landing. She turned to confront Einheria, but Hresvelgr was too close to worry about the Valkyrie. No time to think, just keep moving. Agnès ran up the roof and leapt for the next.

"Cake!" Artemia bellowed behind her.

"And I'll take this too," Einheria said somewhere behind her.

"What? No!" Edea said. Agnès chanced a look back to see Einheria bounce off of a nearby roof and arc elegantly up and onto the back of Hresvelgr holding two cake boxes. Edea was empty-handed as she thumped down onto the roof ahead of Agnès and turned to confront their pursuers. Agnès grabbed her arm as she landed.

"Come on!" she yelled.

"But Agnès!" Edea protested.

"They're not going to eat it right away!" Agnès said pulling on her friend's arm again. "We need to get them out of the city so neither of us end up killing everyone."

Edea threw a last suspicious glance back behind them and nodded. Another jump and they sailed down onto the grassy plain on the other side of the river; they were out of the city. The sky was brightening by the second; dawn was only minutes away. "Now?" she asked as the summon crested the wall of buildings forming the outer edge of Florem.

"Bit further," Agnès said, leaping forward again. "Just to be sure," she said hastily as she dug through her pouch and held out another Summoner asterisk for Edea. "Together; I'll call Susano-o to bring them down. When he has them on the ground, ask Deus Ex to stun them."

"That's quite a stunning," Edea said as she triggered her asterisk. "No pun intended," she said smiling as she realized what she had just said. "It's a good plan, okay?"

Agnès barely had time to nod as she activated her own asterisk and called Susano-o into being. Hresvelgr shot towards her; by the time Susano-o loomed over his opponent, Agnès was able to catch the look of panic in Mephilia's eyes. The Summoner stared up at the rarest summon; with a blur of movement, Susano-o's sword smashed Hresvelgr into the ground. The force of impact was enough to knock the Venus sisters off their feet and in the same moment Susano-o faded from sight. A moment later and the mechanical movements of Deus Ex sounded clearly in the stillness. Before the trio could even scramble upright the summon shot a huge spark of electricity at them as it whirred and clunked towards them.

After a few moments it was clear the Venus sisters were not getting up anytime soon. Edea and Agnès both reactivated the Valkyrie asterisk, spears held ready as they cautiously approached the unconcious asterisk bearers. Edea snagged one of the boxes from Einheria's grip while Agnès apologised for incapacitating Artemia a second time on the same day. Artemia was in no shape to reply so that would have to be it. Dawn broke behind them as the jumped back into the city.

* * *

Edea eagerly folded the cardboard container back as they settled onto the inn's roof. "It got a little knocked around," she said peering into the box. "But it's still intact. I bet it'll still taste fine!" She patted her clothes. "Knife, knife..." Her gaze strayed to her sword. She bared an inch of steel before shaking her head and replacing it. "No. Don't think I want to use something that has had monster guts all over it... Plus pretty disrespectful to Master Kamizumi." She sighed. "Guess I'm going to have to go to the kitchen..."

"I have an idea," Agnès said. With a flicker her clothes became very small and very thin; the Spell Fencer asterisk was freezing this early in the morning. Agnès shivered; this was definitely a less comfortable asterisk than the Vampire.

"Agnès?" Edea asked.

Agnès grinned and held up her newly formed sword. After a moment of concentration, magical fire swept along the blade. "Should to be sterilised now," she said passing the sword to Edea.

"Another excellent plan," Edea said and set about cutting the cake into four slices and handed the sword back. Agnès deactivated all her asterisks, glad her for her actual, more covering and critically much thicker, clothes. "It's times like this, I half wish Sage had crafted as asterisk with cutlery somehow... Oh, if he could make one that let me make this cake..." Edea trailed off as Agnès watched her. "I can dream, can't I? Anyway; breakfast!"

"We certainly worked hard for it," Agnès said as she took her quarter. The cake was soft and moist, the cream divine, the strawberry flavouring delicate and so very sweet. The individual pieces of fruit perched on top looked like gem stones and burst with flavor as she bit down. All in all the taste was beyond exquisite. She could not be absolutely sure it was worth everything they had experienced this morning, but the cake was certainly delicious. They ate in near silence as they watched the sun rise and the landscape change colour. "As good as you hoped?"

"Bettter. When this is over; I'm coming back for another," Edea said grinning. "I'm almost tempted to see if there are any more left..."

"I think Tiz will like his slice," Agnès said quickly. "Oh! I should cut it in half for Ringabel... Unless you wish to donate your other quarter?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's fair." Edea said a little downcast. Something caught her eye and she smiled. "Oh ho. No need to share or go anywhere; I think we can safely eat the rest of the cake."

"Edea! I thought we agreed on a quarter each?" Agnès said as Edea helped herself to a second slice.

"Oh we did. But it looks like the boys took matters into their own hands..." She nodded ahead of them and Agnès followed her gaze. Tiz had just flung himself away from a crackling lightning bolt. He was using the ninja asterisk and threw a very familiar looking white box to Ringabel who appeared to be using the same asterisk. He in turn ducked a swipe from Vincent, trying desperately to keep the cake level as he slipped on the tiled roof. Victoria tumbled into view behind them both, her limbs flailing. She seemed to be shouting something at Ringabel; whatever she said left him more embarrassed than frightened. His reply on the other hand looked like it was wrong on every count; Victoria sent another crackle of electricty towards him. Ringabel dodged to one side and flung the cake box to Tiz again.

"We can't just eat cake while they're in trouble," Agnès protested as Edea took another large bite of the cake.

Edea sighed. "I know, I know." She replaced the half eaten slice in the box and reclosed it. "Suppose we better help them out then. Ready?"

"Ready." They both retriggered the Valkyrie asterisk and jumped quickly across the roof-top to rescue Tiz and Ringabel.


End file.
